Friday, 12 September 2014

Goan Theatre in English

Binding
the Evanescent: Goan Theatre in English

Dr. Brian Mendonça

brianlibra@gmail.com

Abstract

A serious study of Goan drama as a genre of
literature in English is sadly lacking. Goa has made a name for itself in the tiatr in Konkani and the khell in Marathi but English is a poor
cousin. This seems to be because of the paucity of Goan playwrights writing in
English and secondly owing to the pathetic patronage given to it by the Goan
English-speaking public. While this is a malaise which is not peculiar to Goa
alone it is useful to dwell on this lacunae and whether the situation can be
remedied.

I would like to look at the work of 3 Goan playwrights, viz. Isabel de Santa RitaVas, Savio Sequeira and Afsar Hussain. Isabel de Santa Rita Vas is founder-member of the Mustard Seed Art Company – an amateur theatre group in Goa–
more than 25 years ago. Over the years the company has staged 55 plays with Ms.Vas having written more than 27. Deftly
staying away from the risqué which plagues much English theatre, hers is a
refreshing take on contemporary Goa performed in a language simple and
heart-warming. The fusion of Portuguese, Marathi and Konkani in her plays gives
them a local idiom. Like her Frescoes in
the Womb the plays tap a racial memory which is evanescent and
almost mythic. Savio Sequeira who has staged Fires of Darkness is Nairobi-born and Dublin based. Afsar Hussain has collaborated with Savio Sequeira to stage Red Oleanders. It is interesting to examine these impulses which crisscross the globe with themes at once national (Tagore's Post Office) and local. Ghosts at Large by Vas for example, summons up the ghosts of 'Great Goans' like Mogubai Kurdikar, Gerson DaCunha, Angelo da Fonseca and Bakibab Borkar among others in a musty library being pulled down to make way for a mall.

National Seminar on
Goan Writing. ‘Celebrating Creativity, Commemorating Genius: Glimpses of Goan
Writing in English and in Translation.’ Curtain Raiser in honour of Lambert
Mascarenhas’ 100th birthday. 9-10 September 2014, Institute Menezes
Braganza Hall, Panjim, Goa. Pix of Brian Mendonca presenting his views on 10 September 2014 at the venue.